WRITTEN BY: ERIN
The 1st installment of a featured J-rock band to perform an opening to an anime is: BUMP OF CHICKEN. The band's lineup is, Motoo Fujiwara as lead vocalist, Hiroaki Masukawa as guitarist, bass player is Yoshifumi Naoi and the drummer is Hideo Masu. Motoo is the leader of the group, writing most of the songs as well as drawing art for the albums. Hiroaki is referred to as the shy member of the group who also writes the hidden joke tracks for the albums. Yoshifumi is the crowd pleaser and big anime and gaming fan, while Hideo describes himself as an introvert. The members have all known one another since kindergarten and all through primary school.
Their first album, Flame Vein, was released in 1999 and their second, The Living Dead, in 2000. In 2002 they released, Jupiter, which was their first album to hit number one on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their next new album to become number one in the charts was Yggdrasil in 2004. It was in 2005 that they released the single, Supernova/karma, where "Karma" would be used for the opening theme song to the Playstation video game, Tales of the Abyss as well as the anime adapted from the game.
Bump of Chicken's most current work to date is the release of their album, Present from you, released on June 18, 2008. The band has incredible music, powerful and dramatic, while Motoo's voice is deep and very unique in his range of pitches and how he holds a note. Tales of the Abyss is about Luke fon Fabre, a swordsman who is destined to bring prosperity to the war-torn land of Kimlasca, that has been fighting against the country of Malkuth over the "Score," the future of the world which has been documented in scattered fragments.
The game introduces a much cleaner battle system than that of earlier Tales games and a cast of characters that are never to be forgotten. If you have not played the game but are now interested, the opening video, accompanied by Bump of Chicken will sell you. If not, the character, Jade Curtiss will!
